Jeans and a T Shirt
by Witch Nova
Summary: Set post 'The Satan Pit'. The Doctor decides he wants nothing more than to pull on a pair of jeans and a T Shirt a go to the pub. TenRose pairing.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or any of the characters but I'm borrowing them anyway!**_

_Set after 'The Satan Pit' so potential spoilers for up until there._

"The stuff of legends," said the Doctor, pulling down on a lever and letting the familiar rasp of the TARDIS engines calm his still jagged nerves. Rose stood, pressed close against his side, desperate for the comfort his presence gave her. They both knew how close they had been to the end, separated for all eternity. That hurt more than the thought of dying, the thought of not dying together. The Doctor snaked an arm up her back, onto her shoulder and pulled her close. She rested her head on his shoulder, letting her hand sit warmly on his hip. They both watched the central column of their beloved ship as it worked away, taking them into a safe part of the time vortex.

"Right then," said the Doctor, falling short of his attempt to sound cheery, "I think its time we got some rest don't you, even I want a lie down after that one. I've got bruises where I didn't even know I could bruise!"

Rose's eyes shot to his, her expression one of desperate concern, "Are you alright? Ida said you fell."

"I'll be fine, don't worry about me."

"But I do worry Doctor, I…"

"Rose! I'm okay…we're okay and hey, we didn't need to get that mortgage after all but d'you know what, I wouldn't have minded if we had. I think I could cope being stuck with you," said the Doctor, his voice cracking slightly and his tone changing dramatically, "I thought I'd never see you again but I got you back, oh God Rose I got you back!"

Rose let him pull her into a crushing hug, finally releasing the tears that had been building up since their reunion. She felt the Doctor quaking beneath her hands and began to rub his back gently. She silently pulled away and took his hand. Leading him deeper into the TARDIS. She passed both their bedrooms but the Doctor didn't question her, merely let himself be led, content in the feel of her hand in his. Rose finally opened a door into one of the lounge rooms, one of the more modern ones on board the ship. The massive television screen stood black and silent against one wall while the other walls were taken up by a gallery of pictures Rose had put up, charting their adventures both with his old incarnation and his new. To a stranger they would look like photos of a happy couple, most of the shots being of them wrapped around each other, blissfully happy. One even had his ninth self pressing a kiss to her lips under a sprig of Mistletoe when he had taken both her and Jack ice skating in Austria, at Christmas 1900. He liked that picture.

A large bean bag lay on the floor, close to the telly. It was big enough to take two people with plenty of room and Rose and the Doctor often curled up on it to watch movies when they needed to recuperate.

Rose sat down on the bean bag and pulled the Doctor down beside her, laying so that his head came to rest on her shoulder as she wrapped him in her arms, somehow she knew that he was the one who needed comforting. His very faith had been tested today and she knew he was shaken. Despite her own need to be soothed she found her solace in gently stroking his hair and whispering to him in the dim light. It wasn't long before sleep found them both and their dreams were untroubled, the demons chased away by their closeness.

Rose woke several hours later, not fully rested but settled for the time being. She felt the soft whisper of breath across her neck and looked down at the man still curled in her arms. The Doctor slept as soundly as she'd ever seen him, his fingers tracing delicate patterns on the material covering her stomach

as he dreamed. He looked about five and Rose had to suppress a giggle. His hair stuck up in all directions, a couple of loose locks falling into his eyes. Rose imagined his eyes, the deep chocolate pools that she still fondly remembered as being electric blue but no longer mourned for. She cast her memory back to a time before the regeneration as she brushed the Doctor's hair back from his face. She trailed her fingers across his brow, the once mature skin now youthful and much paler. She traced his nose, smaller now but still defined elegantly, and his lips, fuller than before, lips that could pout adorably when necessary and issue dangerous threats when he was displeased. Her Timelord. She knew she had no claim to him but it was moments like this, the quiet times when he was hers.

Rose pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead before waking him softly, "Doctor? Wake up sleepy head."

"Mmmm?" came the response as he turned his face further into her neck, "Rose?"

"Its me," said Rose.

"Angel," he murmured, "Bright angel."

Rose blushed at his words and realised that he was dreaming still. Part of her wanted to listen further but she knew whatever his subconscious was showing him was not for her to find out.

"Doctor, wake up," she said, running a hand up his arm and giving his shoulder a slight squeeze.

She felt his lashes skim against her neck as his eyes fluttered open, two sleepy orbs stared up to hers with a dazed smile, "Hey Rose."

"Hey," she said softly, "You feeling better?"

The Doctor glanced over their position and blushed slightly, gently removing himself from practically on top of her. Rose found to her dismay that she immediately missed the comforting weight.

"I'm sorry," murmured the Doctor, "I must have been crushing you."

Rose gave him a reassuring smile, "Nah, you weren't. Your so skinny that I doubt you could crush a fly."

"Oi," said the Doctor, sitting up and poking her side, "Less of that you. Suppose you woke me for a reason other than to insult me, I'm not skinny, I'm athletic."

"If you're so athletic let's see you muscles then."

The Doctor stuck his tongue out at her, "There you go," he said, "One of my many muscles. Now, why did you wake me?"

"Just wondered if you wanted to go somewhere, do something. Must be loads of planets we've still got to save," said Rose sitting up as she laughed at him.

The Doctor seemed to ponder for a minute, apparently waging an internal war with himself, "Actually…" he said slowly, still mulling things over, "I quite fancy… no forget it, planet saving it is."

He got to his feet to leave but Rose caught his wrist and pulled him back down beside her, " What were you going to say?"

Her eyes told the Doctor that he wouldn't be able to argue his way out of this one. He ran a hand through his hair, "Right, before I say anything I want you to know that yes, I did bump my head when I fell in the cave but I ran a scan with the sonic screwdriver and I didn't do any damage to myself," he said so rapidly Rose thought he would collapse from lack of air. He took a breath and began again, "Its just…I'd like to…Oh come on!"

Rose lay a hand on his arm, "Doctor you can tell me."

The Doctor sighed and caught her gaze, "I quite fancy doing something a bit normal you know," he said, before casting his eyes to the floor and picking at an imaginary bit of fluff on his trousers.

"How do you mean normal?" said Rose wishing he'd look at her, "Normal as in human?"

The Doctor nodded, "Do you know what my ideal thing would be to do right now? I want to put on a pair of jeans and some old T Shirt covered in slogans, I want to go to a pub and drink beer and dance to cheesy pop music and then stagger home half cut with a kebab in my hand," he said looking back up at her, "Sorry, not very Time Lord is it?"

Rose smiled and got to her feet, holding out her hand to him, "I know just the place. Now come on, I'm going to pick out your outfit, can't have you showing me up with your taste in clothes."

The Doctor offered no argument as she pulled him to his feet and off towards the wardrobe.

xxxx

The Doctor looked good in blue denim. That was the only thought in Rose's head as she watched him lean against the bar and chat to the barmaid as she prepared their drinks. She was vaguely aware of Shireen and several of her other mates chatting away happily beside her and she was aware of answering them but the only thought in her head was how good the Doctor looked in blue denim. She sat up a little straighter as he came back with a tray of funny looking cocktails and several pints of beer for the blokes that had joined them, attracted to Shireen's rather daring top.

"Enjoying yourself?" asked Rose as the Doctor slid into the seat beside her, his arm automatically flopping onto the chair behind her like it was common place, letting the men around them know that Rose was not on the market that particular evening.

"Surprisingly yes," said the Doctor, smoothing out the wrinkles in his black shirt, Rose had convinced him against the slogan T shirt idea, "You?"

"Yeah," said Rose softly, "but just once in a while, don't want to be getting too domestic do we?"

The Doctor quirked an eyebrow before taking a drink from the pint in his hand. An unfamiliar song came over the speakers from the dance floor, Rose had asked the Doctor to make sure they landed a little way into her future so as not to confuse any of her friends as to her new appearance, her hair having been longer the last time they had seen her, so the song was unknown to her.

She was shocked to feel the Doctor take her hand and pull her to her feet, "Do you want to dance?"

"To this?" she said noticing the couples on the dance floor, wrapped around each other as they moved to the music. She blushed at the thought of dancing that way with the Doctor. Did he know what he was asking? Did he know one of her many fantasies was to dance with him like that? Had he known what was going through her mind that night they'd watched dirty dancing in the control room and she'd had to perch on his knee because Jack wanted to join them half way through and the captain's chair only had room for two?

"Don't you like this music?" he asked, turning to her as she hesitated.

"Its fine but…"

"Well then come on," said the Doctor leading her to the floor.

He turned her so that her back was pressed against his chest and let his hands rest on her hips. Rose was shocked at how expertly he moved to the music, his hips moving hers in their delicious dance. Rose felt her breath stop in her throat and her heart start racing as he tucked a thumb into the waistband of her jeans, anchoring her to him.

"Doctor…"

He turned her to face him and pulled her close, guiding her arms around his neck as they began to move together, his eyes capturing hers as they smouldered almost black in the dim light but she also saw sadness there. He pulled her closer so his lips were beside her ear.

"I nearly lost you," he murmured, running a hand down her side before resting on the small of her back.

"But you didn't," said Rose, the emotion in his voice, laced with the intimacy of their dance making it hard to string a sentence together.

"I don't want to lose you Rose," he said, "If I ever do I'd… Oh Rose… I'd…"

He trailed off as Rose pulled back slightly, her eyes searching his face, desperate to comfort him. Without a second thought the Doctor leaned into her for an explosive kiss. He traced his tongue along her lip, demanding entrance. He felt her hesitate but he was insistent, the delicious electricity she was sending through him with her dancing was not going to go unrewarded. Rose parted her lips to allow him access and he grew gentle once again, tracing his tongue gently against hers before exploring her mouth further, revelling in the very taste of her. He heard her moan in the back of her throat and he pulled away to breath. He knew what he wanted but he didn't want regrets, didn't want the next morning to be awkward. He was about to speak when Rose spoke, albeit her words slightly stuttered from shock.

"How drunk are you?" she asked, running her fingers through his hair. The question took him aback but he would not let her blame this on drink.

"That," he said nodding to the table they had previously occupied, "Is my first. I've been on lemonade most of the night."

"I thought you had something in it," said Rose.

"No, I wanted to be sober for this. You?"

"I can handle my drink," said Rose, "So you knew this was going to happen?"

The Doctor was surprised they were actually managing to have a rational conversation while Rose was grinding against his hips, her hands tracing down from his hair to scratch against his chest. He felt a moan escape his lips before he spoke again, "You make it sound like some dastardly seduction. I knew I was in love with, I know I want to make love to you."

Rose knew her mouth had fallen open and that she looked like a goldfish but she had little choice in the matter as her brain refused to respond. Here was the Doctor, her Doctor admitting that he loved her. Her expression made the Doctor pale dramatically even in the darkness of the dance floor, he'd misread the entire evening.

"Rose…Oh God…please don't tell me I've got this wrong! I thought, what with the hugs on the sanctuary base, and the looks, and your kiss and earlier in the TARDIS. I…oh Lord…I thought you felt the same. I've screwed us up now haven't I? Rose…"

Her lips on his silenced him before she grabbed his hand and dragged him from the dance floor.

"You. Home. Now," came her breathy command as she pulled him out into the London air and towards the neatly concealed TARDIS. She pulled her key out of her pocket but stopped before she unlocked the door, turning to him with tears in her eyes.

"Rose?" said the Doctor, concerned by her tears and the rapid chain of events, "Angel?"

"I love you too," she murmured, pressing a much softer kiss to his waiting lips, "And you're never, ever going to lose me. Now, why don't you complete this seduction of yours and take me to bed?"

The Doctor gave her a manic grin before taking the key from her hand and unlocking the door. Sweeping her into his arms he carried her into the TARDIS, closing the door behind him with a decisive kick.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Ok, this was supposed to be a oneshot but I've had several requests for a continuation so I'll see what I can do. Have been mulling a story over in my brain for a while so we'll see if I can fuse the two together. Please keep reviewing, makes me smile. Nova x**_

_She was running. Running so fast but getting nowhere. Each door she passed opened out into empty space, pulling her into the void. Around her the faces, so many faces. Marred with the markings he couldn't translate, he'd failed her. He knew everything but when it came to it nothing. The faces she loved, Mickey, Jackie, Pete, Jack, Gwyneth and so many others, thick black lines on their skin, red eyes burning into her soul. And him chained, bathed in red and smoke, beckoning her to him with dripping lips and razored fangs. And yet the Doctor stood aside, not looking at her, not recognising her. She reached for him as she ran but her hands went through him like he was mist. And then she was falling…falling so fast and the falling smelled like bacon…bacon…why would falling smell like bacon? Oh she wanted bacon…he cooked good bacon, pink and crispy. The bacon was talking, reaching out with greasy hands to shake her awake… She wanted bacon so much._

"Bacon?" Rose murmured as she sat up, blinking the sleep from her eyes, "Bacon?"

"Well I've never been called that before, hope it doesn't stick."

"Wha…" She shook her head as the face before her came into focus, beaming down at her and waving what appeared to be a sandwich in her face, "Doctor?"

"Oh, not bacon anymore?" he whined, "I'm offended. Thought it was some cute nickname you'd thought up, how exactly bacon can be cute I don't know but…"

"What are you babbling about?" said Rose, finally coming to her senses and feeling the memories of the night before come back to her in glorious high definition, the Doctor certainly had some staying power.

The Doctor smiled down at her and offered her the plate, "Thought you might be hungry after last night's…exertions," he said with a slight blush to his cheeks, the redness only heightening as Rose sat up, letting the bed sheet fall from her as she did.

Rose looked down at her naked form before quirking an eyebrow up at him and taking the sandwich from his hand and biting into it, not caring to cover herself up. Despite how delicious the bacon was she was far more interested in the look of unbridled lust that had passed over the Doctor's features.

"How can anyone make a bacon sandwich look sexy?" he mumbled to himself, shifting his position on Rose's large double bed to conceal the front of his pyjama bottoms.

"Its an art," said Rose, polishing off said sandwich in record time and laying the plate on the night stand, "Is this what I'm going to get every morning, breakfast in bed? I should have jumped you months ago."

The Doctor crossed his arms on the bed and lay his head on them, turning his face to her, "I wish you had," he said with a sweet smile, "Last night was amazing."

Rose giggled and slid down to lie next to him, "You weren't bad I suppose."

She heard him pull a pillow from beneath him and already had her arms in place to defend herself as it come down on her head. She grabbed it off him and hit him back on the shoulder before chucking it away from the bed and sitting astride him, pinning him down. She had thought their first 'morning after' would have been all gentle wakenings and sweet nothings but somehow bacon sandwiches and pillow fights seemed much more like the Doctor and Rose found she liked it just fine. The previous night had been their time for whispered declarations of love, in between the passionate moments, in the plural Rose had been very glad to note.

Rose lowered herself down to the Doctor and placed a delicate kiss to his waiting lips before sliding herself down to lay against him, fitting comfortably into his side. His hand came up to brush a few strands of hair from her eyes before he spoke.

"No regrets?" he said softly, his fingers trailing onto the ivory skin of her throat.

"None at all," said Rose, "You're an amazing _dancer_ Doctor."

Rose felt the laughter against her cheek and smiled all the more for it, tightening her embrace on him.

The shrill ringing of her mobile phone cut through the moment like a knife and she heard the Doctor curse in a language that the TARDIS chose not to translate. Rose groaned and pulled herself up from the Doctor's arms, recognising the ring tone she had assigned to her mother. Shireen must have tipped her off that Rose was back in town and now she was being summoned from her comfy love nest. Rose gave a small smirk at how easily the word love had slipped into her relationship with the Doctor in the space of a few hours. She fumbled with her jeans which had been unceremoniously flung to the floor and pulled the phone from her pocket. She flipped it open and held it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"_He is awake."_

Rose paled, remnants of her dream hovering at the side of her consciousness, "Excuse me?"

Her mother's shrill tones echoed back at her.

"_I said, are you awake? Clearly not fully yet or hung over, what's he had you drinking or don't I want to know? Shireen said you were in town and I was wondering if you were going to bother coming to see me. I can see the TARDIS outside so I know you're still on the planet. Do you know…"_

Rose struggled to listen to her mother's chatter as the Doctor slid his arms around her waist and began to run delicate butterfly kisses up from the base of her spine to her neck, filling her with delicious bolts of electricity. She half heartedly tried to bat him away but soon gave up, trying to disguise the moan that escaped her lips with a cough. She felt the handset being taken from her grip and then heard the Doctor's voice, annoyingly level and calm considering his previous behaviour.

"I'll have her at your front door in half an hour Jackie," he said, hanging up on her continuing prattle. He turned to see Rose rubbing at a patch on her arm.

"You alright?"

Rose finished scratching at the black mark, removing it from her skin, "Yeah, was just a bit of eye liner or something smudged on there. Funny, looked a bit like one of those symbols on the sanctuary base."

The Doctor gave her an amused half smile, "Well something possessed you last night but I don't think somehow it was that, more like several glasses of cheap wine and the love of a Time Lord!"

"Something like that," said Rose with a smile before climbing off the bed and heading towards the bathroom, "I'm going for a shower."

"Sure," said the Doctor, running an admiring gaze over her figure… just making sure.

_**A/N:Sorry if this chapter is a bit slow moving, things will really get going in the next one. Struggling to keep the rating at T so future warnings that it may go up slightly but will try to keep it smut free. Anyone who wants smut let me know, I have several oneshots that will do the job.**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer: Don't own Doctor Who, never have done, never will do cries**_

Rose swore the sound of the slap her mother had just given the Doctor was echoing throughout the Powell Estate. She bit her lip to stifle a giggle as he shot her a pained look, cupping his injured cheek with his hand. She took a step to him and removed his hand from his face, pressing a kiss to the red skin.

"And how long has this been going on?" demanded Jackie, hands on hips and rolling her eyes at Rose's affectionate gesture. Rose's plan to get the 'Mum, the Doctor and I are sleeping together' out of the way as quickly as possible had resulted in the slap being the last of the Doctor's worries and at present he was carefully eyeing the bread knife laying on the kitchen table, still within Jackie's reach.

"We haven't been… together long," said Rose taking the Doctor's hand, "Please Mum, try to understand. I'm happy."

"But he's an alien," cried Jackie, "A thing."

"He's still in the room," said the Doctor, quickly ducking behind Rose as Jackie shot him a vicious glare and raised her hand again. Rose drew herself up to her full height and tried to look brave, despite the fact that her mother in a temper still terrified her after months of monsters and aliens.

"Mum listen, we wanted you to know about us so please try to accept it. We've been through so much recently that we just want to come home and keep quiet for a few days."

"Why? What's happened? Where's he taken you this time? First Mickey and now…I swear to you Rose if he's upset you."

"Don't blame the Doctor," said Rose flopping down on the sofa with an exasperated sigh, "We landed somewhere by mistake and had a bit of a hairy time. It wasn't the Doctor's fault, or the TARDIS' fault, or my fault but we got involved anyway. It scared us and we just want a bit of down time."

"I wasn't scared," said the Doctor, defensively, as he pottered nervously by the television set, clicking the sonic screwdriver on and off in his hand. It was a nervous habit Rose had noticed in this incarnation, it spoke volumes of the Doctor's emotions even when he thought he was doing a good job of hiding them, "Never get scared me."

"Well I suppose you'll be expecting me to feed you then," sighed Jackie, "You could have given me some warning you know. I've got nothing in and I was meant to be going to Howard's tonight."

"Satsuma man!" said the Doctor, "Thank him for the jim jams would you. Without him I would have had to save the world naked, although I have done that before actually, Tilif Prime, lovely race but had this thing about clothes, hated them. Even when I was offering to save them from the great devouring beast of…"

"Doctor!" said Rose tugging at his coat tails.

"What?"

"Babbling," she said, earning herself one of his amusing pouty faces he pulled when he felt like he wasn't getting his way. He huffed down on the sofa beside her, looking set for a good sulk but changed his mind at the last minute and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"Do you have to do that here?" cried Jackie, "Rose if you want to eat tonight you'll have to help me with the shopping. He can stay here."

"He has a name," said the Doctor childishly.

"No, he has a title!" Jackie shot back, smiling as she watched the look of shock and affront that crossed the Doctor's face at her quick witted response, "Rose?"

"Yeah I'll come," she said, stifling a giggle at her partner's face. Another word that fitted them perfectly, partner, although they had been partners in many ways before they were lovers but it still warmed Rose's heart a degree, "Why don't you go fiddle with the TARDIS? I'll find you when we're done."

The Doctor nodded and pressed a brief kiss to her lips before heading out the door. Leaving mother and daughter to compile a shopping list.

XXXX

The Doctor tinkered miserably with the alien gadget in his hand, ignoring the incessant prattle of the television personalities he was being forced to watch. Rose's pleading, begging, pouting and finally wicked womanly wiles had landed him in agreeing to spend the night in the Tyler flat rather than on the TARDIS. At first Jackie had insisted on the Doctor sleeping on the sofa but Rose had won her over but that still didn't earn the Doctor a reprieve from the latest reality TV show that Jackie had got hooked on. After attempting to entertain himself by pointing out to Jackie who out of the celebrities was in fact alien, he had now reluctantly turned to retuning the frequencies on a radio system that would allow him to communicate with the great Sea Turtle Empire on the planet of Huhuganog. The fact that the planet had been destroyed by a supernova of a nearby star nearly two thousand years previously still didn't phase his fiddling.

The Doctor fidgeted on the sofa, rewarded by a tut from Jackie as he disturbed her viewing. He mouthed a overly dramatic 'sorry' at the back of her head and went back to his fiddling. Rose had excused herself to change into her nightwear but forty-five minutes later she still hadn't returned.

"How long does it take?" he muttered more to himself than anyone.

"What are you fretting about?" asked Jackie, muting the volume on the telly. It was only when silence descended in the room that they heard strange moaning coming from the bathroom.

"Tell me I'm hearing things," said the Doctor before springing to his feet and bolting to the bathroom door. It was locked, "Rose? Rose? Are you alright?"

He heard her strangled sobs behind the door, "He is awake."

"Rose?"

"He is awake and you will worship him."

"Rose stop playing, that isn't funny," said the Doctor, fumbling in his pocket for the sonic screwdriver, "I'm coming in okay."

"The Beast has risen from the pit."

The bathroom door clicked open and the Doctor rushed inside to see Rose banging her head against the bath tub, her half dressed body covered in strange black markings, not unlike the ones on the wall on Sanctuary Base 6. He paled and took a step back, remembering what Rose had told him about Toby. He thought they had destroyed whatever the Beast had been but somehow it had taken over Rose's body and was now doing to her what it had done to him.

"He is awake!" cried Rose, her voice weak and her breathing ragged.

"Rose? Its me, it's the Doctor, you're going to be alright," he said taking a few tentative steps towards her and kneeling beside her. She pulled away, huddling closer to the bath, curling her arms around her knees.

"Get away from me! You're not the Doctor, he's dead, the Doctor's dead."

Jackie entered the room at her daughter's scream and joined the Doctor on the floor, "Rose what's the matter? This is the Doctor," she said as soothingly as possible, "What's the matter with her?"

"I don't know," said the Doctor but his eyes were drawn to something gripped tightly in Rose's hand. He gently pried her fingers apart to release the black kohl pencil that she had been gripping. The point was worn down to nearly nothing. He glanced over her body, at the thick black symbols, so similar to the one's they had recently seen but not the same. He licked the end of his thumb and rubbed at one of the designs, it came away easily. His sigh of relief was only short lived as Rose flinched away from him again.

"Jackie," he said slowly, "I think we might have a problem."


	4. Chapter 4

**_A/N: Hope the last chapter didn't confuse many people. All I can say is keep reading and all will be explained. Coming up in the story we meet with a couple of old faces and the Doctor faces an agonising struggle._**

_Disclaimer: Still don't own anything although if either Chris or David were up for sale I'd gladly sell a kidney to pay for them!_

Rose could barely look at the Doctor as he gently sponged the remaining eye liner tattoos she'd given herself off her arm. Around her the TARDIS med-suite glowed a soothing blue and hummed around her, calming her slightly. She couldn't remember much before waking up in the room, the Doctor gently washing the black marks of her skin. She remembered leaving him to go and change and then watching his and her mother's concerned eyes as they sat in her bathroom before she was picked up in the familiar strong arms and carried home. She couldn't remember coming to the med suite so she assumed she had fallen asleep against his shoulder as he'd carried her.

When she'd woken he'd asked if she recognised him and when she'd told him that she did he'd breathed a massive sigh of relief and Jackie, who had been beside him at the time, had given his shoulder a gentle squeeze. She'd since gone to make them all tea in the TARDIS kitchen as the Doctor continued to take off the symbols. He didn't speak again after that but Rose knew that she must have frightened them by the look on his face and how delicately he was treating her. She didn't mind his gentle hands, her head felt fuzzy and her skin sore from where the marks had been on her. She longed to question him though but she knew he would bring the subject up in his own time.

"Still know who I am?"

The Doctor's voice cut through her reverie, causing her to look up and get caught up in the whirling chocolate pools that stared at her with a mix of deep love and desperate concern. She sighed and sat up a little straighter on the bed.

"For the thousandth time, yes!" she said, "I recognise you. You're the Doctor, the tenth incarnation of the Doctor, a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. You go about the universe in your ship called the TARDIS, which stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space. We met when the Nestene Consciousness invaded London, you have a mole between your shoulders and have a particular fascination with getting me into bed. Do I pass?"

The Doctor gave her a pained glance at her harsh tone, he had asked her the same question several times now but he had to be sure. Her memory loss had frightened him more so than the marks on her body. He couldn't bear the thought of her not recognising him.

"I'm sorry Rose," was all he managed to say, "You frightened me."

"Please tell me what happened," said Rose as he put the sponge to one side and sat on the bed beside her. He took her hands in his own, his thumb rubbing gently on the back of her hand.

"You were in the bathroom, crying. You started going on about the Beast and I saw you covered in those marks. I thought it had possessed you the same way you told me it possessed Toby. Then you didn't recognise me and that didn't fit. Then I found the eyeliner in your hand. You'd drawn the patterns on yourself."

"You think I'm mad don't you," said Rose casting her eyes to her feet and pulling her hands away. The Doctor caught them fast and held them against his chest, letting her feel the odd rhythm of his hearts. Hammering harder than usual she realised.

"Rose, look at me," he said, glad when her eyes flicked up to his, "I don't think you're mad but I think you might be sick and I want to find out what is wrong so I can make it better. Now try to remember, did you hit your head at anytime when we were on the Sanctuary Base?"

Rose thought for a minute before shrugging, "I don't think so. I can't remember. I felt a bit light headed when we were fighting the Ood but that was because we didn't have much oxygen in the service tunnels."

"Tea's up!"

Rose felt the Doctor's hearts jump in alarm as her mother's voice sounded once more in the room. Jackie entered carrying a tray and Rose welcomed the aroma of the freshly brewed tea. The Doctor shook his head before swiftly nicking a mug off the tray and taking a drink before grimacing and handing it to Rose.

"Yours I believe, far too sweet."

"So what's wrong with her?" said Jackie, "She looks fine now."

"Looks can be deceiving. I'm going to hook Rose up to a few monitors tonight, see if she has anymore…episodes. Perhaps that way I can work out what's wrong because to be honest with you I haven't a clue. The initial scan showed negative for any alien infections and everything appears to be in working order in a human sense, although as I only got a chance to examine her after the event had passed it could be anything," said the Doctor, gratefully accepting his correct cup of tea. Only realising a few sips in how domestic it was to be accepting tea in his own TARDIS from the woman who could potentially be his mother in law. He shook his head at the notion, he and Rose had barely been together a day and he was considering his in-laws.

The trio sat in silence for a time until the Doctor got up to busy himself with hooking Rose up to the TARDIS. Hoping that whatever he found was wrong would be easy enough to treat.

XXXX

It was a sound the Doctor always found haunting. Bringing back terrifying memories for himself and for friends he'd lost. The incessant beeping that soon became undistinguishable in the room suddenly beginning to switch pitch dramatically and the lights to flash a warning to him that something was wrong. And this time is was accompanied by the screams, the shrill, pained screams of a woman in torment. Clawing at the bed around her, clawing at his clothes as he tried to help her. Wide, black eyes stared up at him, not recognising him and trying to push him away, denying him. Words that meant nothing or that meant the world escaping as cries from blue-tinged lips.

The Doctor, lay a hand on Rose's forehead but she slapped him away. Her nails doing a fine job of letting him know to back away.

"Who are you? Get away from me! Mum! Mum! Help me."

"Rose, its me, it's the Doctor. You're Mum's in the flat. You're in the TARDIS, You're safe," said the Doctor, paling dramatically as the monitor warned him that her heart rate was continuing to fluctuated and that her oxygen levels were far too low, "You're experiencing a hallucination of some sort, your brain isn't getting enough oxygen. I need you to calm down and breathe."

"Leave me alone," she cried, forcing him away from her with so much force that she sent him tumbling over the chair he's been seated in.

The Doctor felt the impact like being hit by a truck, his side colliding hard with the metal of the chair. He tried not to cry out, not wanting to distress Rose any further by adding his pain to hers. He struggled to his feet and once again was met by the onslaught of her vicious hands that had only recently been so gentle on him.

"Please, please, stay still and let me help you," he pleaded.

"Get away…"

"PLEASE ROSE!"

For a moment she looked as though she was going to protest but then she began gasping for air, gripping onto his shirt like her life depending on it, "Help me!" she pleaded, "Can't breathe."

The Doctor pulled an oxygen mask over her mouth and turned on the supply, "Yes you can. Calm down. You can breathe," he said as soothingly as possible, trying to hide his fear. Her eyes seemed to clear and a soft recognition came to them. The Doctor, fearing she might do more harm to herself the next time took a needle he'd prepared before Rose had first gone to sleep and carefully injected into her arm. Rose's heart rate and oxygen levels began to equalise and she began to fall back into a restful sleep, the hallucination passed but the Doctor continued speaking, "You and me are going to go on a little trip once I've fetched your mum. I have a friend, she might be able to help you."

_**A/N: Again apologies if the chapter is a bit slow moving but I need to set things up for the main part of the story. Hopefully you've worked out who they're going to visit but if not I won't ruin the surprise…you'll just have to wait until I update.**_

_**Nova x**_


	5. Chapter 5

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or Doctor Who the movie or anything vaguely related to Doctor Who, if I did the wonderful Billie Piper wouldn't be leaving! I think I'm going to cry!_**

Rose clung to the Doctor as he carried her through the doors of the American hospital, her body feeling weak and bruised after a disturbed night. She regarded the man who cradled her so carefully, his eyes heavy and rimmed in red after all the worry she'd put him through. He'd briefly told her what had happened throughout the night, how he'd even had to call for her mum to help him restrain her as she tried to attack him again. Now they were entering a hospital in America 2006 to meet a friend who the Doctor had said could help her.

One of the nurses in reception looked up as she saw the Doctor and his patient and rushed over with a wheelchair. The Doctor sat Rose down and rubbed his side gratefully, his hand grazing over the bandage that now protected his bruised ribs. Rose blushed with shame at the thought of injuring him but the Doctor bent down and pressed a soft kiss to her lips.

"I won't be a second," he said softly before wondering over to the reception desk and beginning to prattle on to the nurse on duty. Rose couldn't hear what was said between the two so turned her attention to her mother at her side.

"Has he told you what's going on?"

Jackie shook her head, "All he said to me was that he had a friend who he knew might be able to help him and that we were going to America. Then he just fiddled around with the TARDIS and we were here."

Rose watched as the nurse handed a phone over to the Doctor and he spoke into it, seemingly trying to convince the person on the other end that they should see him. Rose watched her name form on his lips and then saw him smiling happily and cracking a joke before handing the receiver back. He flashed Rose a brilliant grin as he walked back over. He crouched down at her level.

"We're in luck, she's in and she'll see us," he said getting to his feet and moving behind her, steering the wheel chair towards the elevators, "We need to go upstairs."

"But Doctor, who is she?"

"You'll see," he said as the doors closed around them and he hit the button for the fourth floor. The lift began its ascent and they stood in silence watching the numbers roll passed although Rose swore she heard the Doctor mutter something about Puccini. Rose read the sign as the lift doors opened again. **_Cardiothoracic Ward. _**Rose paled dramatically at the word, she'd watched enough hospital dramas to know what it meant. She clutched at the Doctor's hand frantically.

"There's something wrong with my heart isn't there?" she cried, "Doctor what's wrong with me? I've been having dreams, not heart attacks."

"Let's just see my friend," he said giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze, "She'll be able to give us a better idea."

"But why does she need to see another doctor? YOU'RE a doctor," said Jackie with a quiver in her voice that she swallowed down for Rose's sake.

"I'm not a medical doctor Jackie and the woman we're going to see is the best in her field. Plus she's a friend who has saved my life a couple of times so I know I can trust her with the most precious person I have," he said as he pulled Rose to a halt beside a large wooden door, "Here we are."

Rose looked up at the sign on the door. **_Grace Holloway M.D._**

"Whose Grace Holloway? I've never heard you mention her," said Rose as the door opened to reveal an attractive woman in her mid forties. Her hair was somewhere between blonde and brown, styled elegantly and she wore a black trouser suit, accentuating her curvaceous figure. Her eyes scanned the Doctor's face before she reached out a hand to cup his cheek.

"Yes," she said smiling, "Yes it is you isn't it? Changed again but its you, you're eyes."

"Hello Grace," said the Doctor softly, "Its been a long time."

"Six years," said Grace pulling him into a hug, "Six years and you're back on my doorstep with a new face once again. At least this time I'm not performing heart surgery on you."

The Doctor pulled back with a tear filled smile, "I have missed you. How have you been?"

"Come inside and we'll all talk," she said looking over at Rose and Jackie. She gave Rose a gentle smile, "You must be Rose, let's see what I can do for you shall we."

XXXX

Grace shut off the microphone that would allow her voice to be heard in the MRI room and turned to the Doctor whose eyes were focused solely on Rose as she entered the large machine, keeping as still as she possibly could. Grace shuffled several papers on the table in front of her, results of the tests she'd recently subjected Rose too after the Doctor had explained her symptoms. She accidentally knocked the microphone switch back to on as she reached for a pen to make a note on the paper before her.

"Is she your girlfriend?"

"Hmm?" said the Doctor turning back to Grace.

"Rose, is she your girlfriend?"

Inside the MRI room Rose's ears pricked up at her name and she waited for the Doctor's response, deciding not to tell them that she could hear them. The machine around her didn't bother her as she heard the Doctor's response.

"She's much more than just my girlfriend."

"Oh," said Grace with a barely concealed sob in the word, "I'm happy for you. How long…?"

"I'm sorry Grace," said the Doctor, "I know you and I…"

"It's the past Doctor its just…well, you're a very hard man to forget."

"You'd laugh at the number of times I've heard that line in recent months. I think Rose thinks I'm some sort of intergalactic stud or something," said the Doctor, his eyes not leaving the form in front of him, "I'm sorry if I've hurt you Grace but I've changed…so much."

"I can see. You're a lot younger."

"Wish I felt it. "

Rose heard the whisper of fabric and imagined Grace getting to her feet and standing next to the Doctor.

"I never stopped loving you," she said softly, "If I had my time again I'd…"

"Don't," said the Doctor, "I hate what if's. I cared about you Grace but I have Rose now. Please don't make this visit any harder on me. Will she be alright?"

"I need to have a look at the results properly but if it turns out to be what I think it is to be honest her chances are about fifty, fifty at present," said Grace, her voice becoming more professional than Rose ever heard it that morning. Rose also thought she could hear a hint of malice but she couldn't blame her, Sarah-Jane had taught her how hard it was to lose the Doctor.

She bit her lip to stop a sob escaping her as Grace's words finally sunk in. She heard the Doctor curse in his own language and slam his fist on the nearest surface.

"You have to fix her Grace," he said, his voice choked, "This is all my fault."

"You don't even know what it is yet," said Grace, "How can it be your fault?"

"It is, I just know it is."

_**A/N: Sorry for the short chapter but I'm at work and don't want to get a kicking for working on this for too long. Will update again after the weekend. Question though, should Grace help Rose or should she refuse because she still loves the Doctor? There's one way to let me know. Nova x**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N:Hmmm bit of a mixed bags when it comes to Grace helping Rose. Most of you want her to as she is a doctor and her patients come first but will I decide to be cruel? Guess you'll just have to keep reading.**_

Rose could barely take in the information Grace was telling her. The medical language was going right over her head and the information about her chances of survival was running through her head at a million miles an hour. Grace had explained that her heart had begun beating in an irregular rhythm and one of the valves had been damaged, hence her oxygen starved hallucinations. Her blood wasn't flowing right and the recent stress she'd been under had aggravated the situation to a dangerous level. The Doctor seemed to be taking all the information in, occasionally adding his own opinion but Rose knew if she couldn't understand Grace she'd never understand him.

Jackie's grip tightened ever so slightly on her daughter's hand as Grace mentioned that Rose would need an operation in the next few days and the dangers that it would present. Rose was so concerned by her mother's reaction that she barely heard the Doctor speak.

"But do you know what caused this Grace?" he asked, "Her family has no history of heart problems and she's bound to be fit with all the running we do."

Rose flashed him a pained smile at his comment, she loved all their running, "Perhaps I've done a little too much Doctor," she said softly.

"Its nothing to do with running," said Grace, her tones clipped as she watched the gentle glance between the Doctor and Rose, "The only explanation I can see is that Rose's heart has undergone some great physical trauma. Almost as if she'd received a high voltage electric shock for a sustained period of time."

Rose felt her stomach sink as all the colour drained from the Doctor's face. He cast his eyes to his lap, picking again at the imaginary fluff on his trousers. Rose could hear him muttering in his own language, somewhere between praying and berating himself by the tone of his voice.

"Time vortex," he muttered, "Oh no Rose!"

Rose reached over and took his hand, "What about the time vortex? Did the TARDIS do this to me?"

"No, not the TARDIS. She'd never hurt you, she loves you," said the Doctor, "I…I never told you what happened on Satellite Five after I sent you home. I thought it was all forgotten but I was wrong. Rose, you absorbed the Time Vortex and humans…no one is meant to do that. I thought I'd got it out of you before it had done any damage but clearly I was wrong, oh Rose I'm so sorry. This is all my fault!"

"This is not your fault," said Rose harshly, getting to her feet, "I chose to come back for you…it was months ago…why now?...Doctor!"

The Doctor caught Rose as she collapsed, struggling for breath, "Easy, calm down! Just breath Rose, don't excite yourself. Whatever caused this we're going to get it fixed and then we'll be off again like normal, you hear me?"

"But Grace said I only had a fifty, fifty chance."

"When did you…"

"I heard you talking when I was getting that MRI thing. I heard what Doctor Holloway said about my chances," said Rose as the Doctor eased her back into her chair.

"What do you mean fifty, fifty chance?" cried Jackie who until that point had been deathly silent, "You're meant to be the best heart surgeon on the planet!"

"The operation is difficult, Rose's heart needs a lot of repair and her body has undergone a lot of stress recently both mentally and physically," said Grace as calmly as she could manage, the talk of Time Vortexes and satellites making her feel slightly out of her depth, "I'm sorry that you over heard me mention the chances to the Doctor, you shouldn't have received that news like that. Perhaps it best if Rose gets some rest. Jackie would you be able to see Rose back to her bed, I need to talk to the Doctor, I may need his assistance in Rose's operation."

Jackie took a deep breath to calm herself and helped Rose out of the chair, supporting her around the waist as the younger woman's legs refused to co-operate. The Doctor came over the help and Rose released her mother to fall into his warm embrace. She clung to him, burying her face in the warmth of his shoulder.

"Don't be too long," she said softly, "Promise me."

"I promise," said the Doctor tilting her face up to his and pressing a soft kiss to her pale lips, "Now go my angel, get some rest and I'll come and see you soon."

"I love you Doctor. Sorry this hasn't been the start we wanted."

"Hey, don't you worry about anything like that. As far as I'm concerned loving you means taking the highs with the lows and I'm going to be by your side no matter what. Now go on Rose Tyler, get to bed."

With one final kiss Rose left the Doctor's embrace and leaned on her mother for support as they left the room, closing the heavy oak door behind them.

The Doctor looked after them a long time after the door had closed, feeling the tears pricking the back of his eyes but refusing to fall. At first he thought the small sob he heard had escaped from his own lips but then released that it in fact came from the woman standing behind him. He turned to see Grace with her hand over her eyes, shielding her tears from his gaze. Automatically he headed round the desk and pulled her into a tight hug but Grace pushed him away.

"Don't…I don't deserve your kindness," she said flopping back down into her chair.

The Doctor crouched down before her, taking her hands, "And why is that?" he said softly, "Because I left you? Because I brought Rose to you? You're trying to help the woman I love despite our past, if anyone deserves my kindness its you Grace."

"But I don't…I was…I had it all planned in my head Doctor, when you first arrived and said Rose was ill. I wanted to give you an ultimatum, one night with me and I'd save her life," said Grace unable to look him in the eye as he swiftly pulled his hands away.

"What?"

"But I can't, not now. I've seen it now, how much you love her. The looks, the gestures, the way she hangs on your every word and you on her's. And I feel wicked and wretched for ever entertaining the idea and I'm sorry."

The Doctor's eyes softened at her words, "Oh Grace! I never…I shouldn't have left you the way I did but please, please promise me you'll help Rose now. She's my life, all my life. Gallifrey's gone and she's all I've got."

"Gallifrey's gone?" said Grace looking up at him.

The Doctor nodded sadly, "Gone. Please help her."

"I will, I'll help her but I'll need you to help me too. Do you think you could stand beside me in theatre and treat her?"

"Of course."

"Thank you Doctor."

The Doctor smiled gently and pressed a small kiss to her forehead, "No, thank you, doctor."


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N:No…still own nothing! Oh well. Awww isn't Grace nice agreeing to help the Doctor but just because she's agreed doesn't mean that she'll be successful. Will Rose pull through? Will she be able to remain with the Doctor? Will the Doctor fail her?**_

The Doctor glanced at his watch and something he could only refer to as 'stupid o'clock' blinked back at him. He was glad Grace had been able to get them a private room, enabling both himself and Jackie to remain at Rose's side throughout the night. Jackie lay in the makeshift sleeping cot provided by the hospital while the Doctor made do with the hard leather chair, his head resting on the bed beside Rose's elbow. He sat up and stretched out knowing his Time Lord physiology wouldn't let him get back to sleep. He glanced down at the woman sleeping beside him, the monitors beeping around her intermittently, letting him know she was ok. She looked so fragile, pale and thin despite only a few days of worry. He couldn't resist pushing back a lock of hair from her forehead, gently letting the blonde silk run through his fingers.

He couldn't believe how much had changed. He thought back to the confident, strong young woman he had taken to his bed only a few days before. The woman who had set his world on fire with her talented lips and skilled hands. He couldn't believe the goddess he'd watched as she'd moved beneath him was now laying broken and fragile in a hospital bed. He cursed his very existence, how everything he ever loved seemed to be snatched from him before he could ever fully enjoy it. He had resisted his feelings for Rose for so long but now all he wanted was to spend every waking moment by her side, as her lover, her confidante, her husband.

The Doctor shook his head at his final thought but couldn't shake the blissful image that fell before him and he allowed his mind to wander along its chosen path. Rose in a bridal gown, Rose wearing his ring, Rose standing beside two beautiful children with scruffy hair and big brown eyes… Rose slowly aging while he stayed the same…Rose unable to go on any adventures…Rose bed ridden and old, surrounded by the great grandchildren who became more human with each generation as their Time Lord blood thinned…Rose dying in his arms…standing by Rose's grave side in a dim lit cemetery. The inscription swam in the Doctor's mind. _Rose Marion Tyler 1987- 2006._

The Doctor paled and ran a hand over his eyes, refusing to notice the image, Rose had to be old when she died, not…

The gentle murmurs from the bed beside him pulled him from his painful musings and he leaned over her sleeping form, committing every line, shadow and freckle on her face to his memory. Her voice in the hospital's silence startled him.

"Why don't you go and tinker with the TARDIS rather than staring at me?"

"You're much prettier," said the Doctor, relief flooding him for no reason as two sleepy eyes opened to hold his.

"I'll tell her," said Rose, "What are you doing awake at this hour? Getting itchy feet already?"

"I couldn't sleep," said the Doctor as Rose patted the bed beside her and shifted over so the he could climb on. He settled beside her and wrapped her in his arms, pressing a kiss to her temple, "Go back to sleep Rose, I'll be here when you wake up."

"I know," murmured Rose, sleep already beginning to claim here, "but will I wake up?"

The Doctor was about to respond when he heard her breathing fall into the deep sighs of sleep and chose not to wake her again, only uttering a silent prayer that she did wake the next morning.

XXXX

Grace buzzed around the theatre's ready room, her assistants helping her into her scrubs and gloves. The Doctor already stood to one side, ready in what would have been a comical look for him if it wasn't for the gravity of the situation. He stood in similar scrubs to those Grace wore but with his sonic screwdriver in his hand. Grace had convinced her team that the Doctor was a famous cardiac surgeon from England who wanted to try out a new electronic device during the operation. She had thought the use of the sonic screwdriver in theatre as crude at first but the Doctor had assured her of its accuracy and promised to only use it if there was a desperate need. Of course Rose had not been informed of its potential use, the Doctor knew the idea would have been met by a tirade of four letter expletives followed by a good hard slap if it was even mentioned.

"You ready Doctor?" said Grace as her surgical mask was pulled over her face.

"No but I don't exactly have time to back out now," he said his own voice muffled by the cloth covering it, "We'd best get in there."

Rose lay on the operating table, already unconscious and hooked up to the necessary machines. The Doctor felt a pang of jealousy as he noted the number of male surgical nurses in the room and Rose's open gown. Hardly the dignity she usually bore so effortlessly.

"She looks so young," he said softly but Grace heard.

"Doctor if you can't handle this…"

"No, no I'll be fine, just…odd you know. That's my Rose on there."

"I know," said Grace moving to the table and switching into her most professional mode, "Ok, scapel, probe and let's skip straight to track fifteen."

The music filtered through the room, La Boheme if the Doctor wasn't mistaken.

"Still a Puccini fan then?" he said as Grace began by making a small incision in Rose's side, "Just don't get lost."

Although he couldn't see her mouth the Doctor knew that Grace was smiling, "I didn't have much of a choice last time, you weren't exactly an easy patient Doctor."

"But so worth it," said the Doctor, turning to the heart monitor as Grace pushed the probe into the incision she had made, "Err…Doctor Holloway? What on earth is that?"

_**A/N: Ooooh cliffy. Sorry, had to. I have an evil streak.**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N: Sorry for the delay. I'm currently planning my wedding which is in ten weeks time so I'm pretty snowed under and haven't had much of a chance to write but now the story continues.**_

"Get them out of here," said the Doctor, taking over from Grace and getting a better angle on the probe to examine the foreign object currently lodged beside a vital valve in Rose's heart.

"But they're needed, for the anaesthetic, to monitor Rose…" muttered Grace but a look from the Doctor silenced here and she quickly ushered the nursing staff out of the room, making them promise to stay close in case anything went wrong. She turned back to the Doctor, her eyes blazing over her surgical mask, "I could get my licence revoked for this."

"I'm not having them cut Rose up like a guinea pig," said the Doctor, nudging the blockade with a probe and his eyes widening as it began to glow a brilliant gold on the screen, "We have to get her open."

"You want to attempt open heart surgery with just us two here? Are you mad?"

The Doctor's voice rang out angrily despite how gently he was now removing the probe from Rose's chest, "She has a piece of the Time Vortex lodged in her heart somehow, slowly killing her and you're worrying about protocol! Now I don't know how it got there, even how it seems to be solid but you are the best cardiac surgeon I know Grace and Rose is dying, please help her. We need to get it out of her. I thought I'd removed all of the vortex from her but I was wrong and now the power that she used to save me is destroying her."

"But how Doctor? How am I meant to perform surgery on something I don't know about. And have you even considered Rose? Open heart surgery? There are so many risks," said Grace, seeing the conviction already present in the Doctor's eyes, "but I don't need to tell you that do I? What do you want me to do?"

"Crack her chest and get me safe access to the blockage, then I'll take over," said the Doctor, "I just hope I can figure out how to do this."

XXXX

The Doctor and Grace worked side by side as Rose's desperate form lay open and vulnerable before them, her heart still and bypassed as they worked for several hours to reach the site of the blockage. The initial sight of Rose's chest cracked open and her heart naked before him had almost sent the Doctor running for the hills. In his lifetime he had seen and participated in several human surgeries but never on someone he cared for and he was terrified. Grace had remained cool and calm throughout, a welcome anchor for the Doctor's tormented countenance as they worked. She gently found a suitable path to the blockage, glad to see Rose's heart muscles looking strong despite the damage it had been subjected to. The Doctor's eyes widened as he saw the location of the vortex, easy enough to remove it seemed but he was amazed at how it had even managed to latch onto Rose's form but he knew he had no time to question its presence, that time would come later.

"What will you do now?" said Grace, sensing the Doctor's hesitation.

"Try to remove it without killing her," said the Doctor, unable to look at his hands stained with Rose's crimson blood, "How I'm going to do that though and contain the vortex once its removed is another matter."

"Contain it?"

"Well I can't exactly let it just get thrown in the bin," said the Doctor, "That's a solid piece of time and space, the tiniest speck in the wrong hands could cause unknown damage. Do you have anything strong, like a radiation box or something?"

Grace nodded and fetched him a box marked radioactive on the side, "We had these installed a while ago, in case of nuclear war and we had to be pulling bits of bomb out of people or something."

The Doctor gave a half smirk under his surgical mask, "Bit daft, hit by a nuclear bomb you're pretty much knackered anyway, doubt you'll be needing surgery."

"Well the bureaucrats have to be seen to be spending tax money on something, " said Grace as the Doctor gently angled the low humming sonic screwdriver at the base of the blockage, "Careful you don't nick the valve."

"I did think about that," snapped the Doctor, "sorry, nervous."

"Its okay, you're doing well," she said, desperate to help but knowing even her expertise were useless in this field, "How's it coming?"

"Its loosening, can you get a clamp around it, I don't want it slipping."

Grace took a clamp and gripped the alien object, surprised that it felt oddly organic rather than the metal she had expected. The light glowed angrily around the object as if protesting to being removed. Grace swore she could hear the words _BAD WOLF_ whispered as the Doctor worked but paid it no mind. As a final burst of energy fizzed from the sonic screwdriver Grace felt the blockage give and gently lifted it free from Rose's body, placing it in the radiation box and firmly closing the lid.

"Job well done Doctor," she said.

The Doctor turned his eyes away from hers, "We still need to get her off bypass and shock her heart back into a normal rhythm," he said, "I'm not celebrating yet."

"I'll call the team back," said Grace, "Hopefully they've stayed close by and not gone to get me sacked."

She turned to the door and left the theatre, leaving the Doctor alone with Rose. He couldn't even look at the girl before him. When he had been operating he had been able to convince himself it wasn't Rose whose life he was precariously toying with but now, with nothing to occupy him and her body open before him he felt his throat close up against a sob. Her surveyed her damaged chest and visualised the scar that would be there. He could fix much of it with the TARDIS dermo-regenerator but she would still be scarred by his own hand.

The Doctor stood back as Grace re-entered with her bemused team, only releasing that they had been waiting outside for nearly three hours while he and Grace had worked when he noticed the clock by the door. He watched as they began the process of taking Rose off bypass, each well practiced in their jobs. He heard the countdown begin and silently added his own voice to the nurse's but he was pulled from his thoughts by a sickening noise. His eyes flew to the monitor and he felt his own hearts stop as he stood frozen, listening to the sound of a flat line.

_**A/N: Oooh I must stop with these cliffies! Sorry for anyone medical reading this, I know very little of heart surgery so if I've got something wrong please don't hurt me. Will Rose live? **_


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N:Apologies for the delay in posting but life and work have been manically busy recently. I only have seven weeks until my wedding so I'm really up against it planning everything. Plus I have sunk into a morbid depression over the news of darling Billie leaving. I'm in tears nearly every time she speaks on the series now. Oh well, she lives on in my heart…but does she in my story?**_

The world had never gone in slow motion for the Doctor before but it did now. His arms and legs felt leaden, holding him to the spot as surgery staff and Grace battled to save Rose's life. He couldn't hear the shouts or the rhythmic counts of the young man currently massaging Rose's heart, only the piercing of the flat line and the absence of a familiar breathing pattern. He felt the tears on his face before he even realised he was crying and his own voice sounded distant and alien as he pleaded with them to save her. It was only when the staffs' movements ceased that he felt the world come back up to speed, it was only then that he heard the words that sent cold, naked devastation through his veins, Grace's pain filled voice.

"Time of death 13:02, July 5th 2006," she said turning to the Doctor, "I'm so, so sorry."

The Doctor tried to speak but words failed him as he watched the nurse gently cover Rose's still open body with a green surgical cloth. He felt the bile rising in his throat but swallowed it down, burning him as his tears now scorched his cheeks.

"My Rose…" he managed to whisper through too dry lips, "Mine."

Grace's arms brought him little comfort as she held him, sinking to the floor and cradling him close, not caring as his tears soaked through her surgical gown. She fought her own tears as she quieted his, tears for a patient lost, tears for the young life wasted, tears for the Doctor, tears for her failure. She knew she would give anything to save the child that lay covered before her but Rose's heart had been too weak, too badly damaged by whatever the Doctor had removed.

"I should tell Jackie," she said as the Doctor quieted somewhat, only hiccupping now and then, shaking like a terrified child. Grace knew he was broken, her once powerful Doctor consumed by grief greater than anything he'd ever gone through. Even Gallifrey paled in comparison to a love lost at his hands.

"She was supposed to die in battle."

"What?"

"The Devil," said the Doctor, "He said she would die in battle. She would have wanted that, to die in battle, protecting people. Not like this."

"Doctor, I don't…"

"Go and see Jackie Grace, tell her I'm sorry," said the Doctor, "I just want to be alone with Rose for a while."

"They'll want to take her to the mortuary, stitch her up," said Grace, "Let them do that first, don't look at her as exposed as she is, don't remember her like that."

"I won't pull back the cover," said the Doctor, offering her a watery glance, "I just need a moment, to say goodbye."

Grace got to her feet and headed to the door, hurrying the remaining staff out before her, "Its against protocol but ok. Be quick though, don't dwell in this place longer than you have to. Jackie will need someone to comfort her."

The Doctor nodded as Grace closed the door behind her. He visualised the scene playing out just beyond the second door Grace would pass through. Jackie would jump up from her seat as she came out, her eyes hopeful only to be met by Grace's remorse. Then she would stagger back to her chair, collapse into it, disbelief all over her face. Then she'd cry, weep uncontrollably for the child she had lost. Then she'd be angry, screaming and crying about fate, aliens, him, how he'd taken her only child and killed her. The Doctor knew he deserved it but he also knew that Jackie would quiet, would know how desperately that he had loved her daughter and when he left the room they'd cry together, holding each other despite their passed differences, mourning the earthling child who was too good for either of them.

The Doctor reached the surgical table, gazing down at Rose's covered form and half expecting to see the delicate rise and fall of the material as she breathed but it didn't come. He felt the tears in his eyes once again but blinked them back, driving his teeth into the back of his hand to suppress a sob. He only stopped when he tasted blood, pulling his hand away to reveal wounds that he wished could be fatal but then cursing that despite any fatality he would still come back, still be alone. He timidly pulled back the covering from Rose's face, careful not expose the open flesh of her chest. He gently pulled at the surgical tape that held down the air tube in her throat and removed it. Her lips were still full and red, she looked like she was sleeping.

"I tried Rose," he said, "I tried so hard and I failed you. I swore to protect you and I failed you. Why didn't you just go home when I sent you back that time? You were so stubborn, coming back for me like that. What did I ever do to deserve a love like that? My bright angel. Oh Rose…"

He trailed off into a sob, remembering that time, their first kiss that she would never remember, the first time she'd called him 'my Doctor'. He could be romantic and say that was when he first fell in love with her but he knew it was a lie, he'd fallen for her long before that. When he'd taken her hand in the department store he intended to blow up it was the first physical contact he'd had with anyone after Gallifrey died, he had thought to deny himself love after that loss of his people but when her pale, warm fingers curled around his he fell and the love kept growing and growing and he kept denying. How he wished he'd told her sooner, how he'd longed to touch her with fingers that were no longer his, kiss her with lips that would never take another breath. She had been his death as she had been his life and now she was again, his death came with hers and he knew nothing could repair his heart now.

Bending slightly he placed the briefest of kisses to her silent lips, sobbing against them as no breath came forth to meet him.

"I love you Rose Tyler. Be safe because for once I cannot follow."

He pulled the cover back over her face and turned back to the door, his hand stilling for a second on the handle.

"Barcelona," he said softly, "I never took you to Barcelona."

_**A/N: I'm sorry! Don't hate me. You won't hate me, keep reading! Please keep reading. Its not the end, not by a long shot. Please don't hate me!**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N: Thought I'd get a chapter in before I get too much hate mail. Still own nothing though.**_

The operating theatre was silent. Nothing moved, nothing breathed. Just silent monitors, a silent body, still warm to the touch. The door handle rattled as it closed behind the Doctor, the only noise in the grave room. Except if someone had been listening very carefully, listening for the slightest thing out of place. A sort of hum, not electrical like a light, or rumbling like a car outside but a hum all the same. And perhaps a slight glow from a box perched on a surgical trolley, but no one noticed, no one saw.

XXXX

Jackie Tyler looked up as she heard the fall of plimsolls on the tiled floor. Her face was stained with tears and mascara, making her look like a teenager and an old woman in the same heart beat. She bit her lip to suppress another sob and got to her feet, wrapping her arms around the alien in front of her. The Doctor hugged her back, burying his face in her shoulder as her cheek fell on his chest, crying silently.

"You tried," said Jackie softly, "You tried sweetheart."

"You don't hate me?" said the Doctor not letting go of her, "You have every right to."

"Rose wouldn't want me to hate you," said Jackie, encouraging him to release her and nearly laughing at herself as he wiped the mascara from her cheeks, his thumb stained black, "Look at the state of me hey? Rose would have a right go if she could see us now."

"Whose to say she can't," said the Doctor softly, "I'll ask if you can see her when they've got her sorted."

Jackie took his hand and sat him down on the hard plastic chairs next to her, "You need to rest for a bit. Please don't start running around just yet."

The Doctor looked down at his feet, shuffling them uncomfortably, "I'm sorry."

Jackie sat beside him and laid a tentative hand on his shoulder, discomfort creeping in and their old distance returning. She shook her head at her own actions before wrapping an arm around his shoulders and bringing his head to her shoulder.

"S'pose you'll be running off again soon won't you," she said, "I won't see you again."

"Jackie…"

"No, its ok. Its you, just…Doctor…just promise me you'll stay for the funeral, please? Help me say goodbye to her. I…I need someone there, I don't have anyone anymore. I need you."

The Doctor altered their positions, raising his head and pulling her into a tight hug, "I'll be there Jackie. I'm going to take care of you, I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

"This one I intend to."

XXXX

The human heart is a very delicate thing, all valves and arteries and veins and muscle but at the mechanics of it all, only a machine. A highly sophisticated machine. It pumps blood, transports vital oxygen, beats out a steady rhythm but it does so much more. A heart is the purest example of all things human. Even eyes can be taught to lie if practised enough but a heart always gives the game away. Erratic rhythm when you are afraid, slow and soft when contented, strong and steady when confident, fluttering and fast when you're in love. A hand on a heart can tell you a million things about a person in a second. It's a powerful thing. And a heart, when touched by something that craves love, craves completion, craves eternity, is not so easily broken.

XXXX

"Enter!" called Doctor Holloway, quickly saving her case notes on Rose as the door to her office opened. She wasn't surprised to see the Doctor at her door. She gave him a weak smile and motioned to the chair in front of her, "Can I get you anything?"

The Doctor shook his head and sat down, his nine hundred years showing clearly on his ashen face, "I need to sort out how I'm going to pay you for the surgery. Jackie can't afford it and Rose didn't exactly need health insurance when we were off on our travels."

"I'll sort something with the hospital, don't worry about the money," said Grace, reaching across the table and taking his hand, "How are you feeling?"

"Stupid question really," said the Doctor in a more bitter tone than he had intended, "Sorry."

"Don't be, I can't imagine what you're feeling right now," said Grace running her thumb along the back of his hand, "You look so tired. Look, the TARDIS probably won't be the best place for you now. I'll give you my keys and some money for a cab to my place. You and Jackie can go and rest there for a bit, get something to eat. They won't be letting anyone see Rose again until the morning anyway."

The Doctor managed a half smile, "We might as well wait for you."

"I'll be late," said Grace, "I've…err…well… I've asked to prepare Rose's body down in the mortuary. I'll be quite late tonight, want to make her look beautiful again for you."

The Doctor swallowed back a sob and nodded. Grace reached into her bag and pulled out her keys and several dollar bills. Scribbling down her address on a piece of paper she handed everything to the Doctor.

"Go home and sleep," she said softly, getting to her feet as the Doctor rose to his. She stepped round the desk and placed a small chaste kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you Grace," said the Doctor, leaving the room, the air of defeat lingering long after him.

XXXX

Jimmy Mann was not anything special but he knew he stood out from the rest of the porter staff because he was the only one who could handle post op cadavers. He didn't care for the blood and the gore of an open stomach or a half sliced brain and so he was always the one to transport the bodies to the mortuary. He was proud of himself and that pride stepped up a notch when he heard about his latest patient. San Francisco General rarely performed open heart surgery these days and he had never yet seen a body with its chest cracked and he was looking forward to it.

Pushing open the door to the operating theatre he moved over to the covered table and pulled back the sheet to reveal the body. Ignoring the face her stared straight down at the open chest and nearly gagged. Deciding even he was beyond acceptance of such carnage he moved to cover the body back over. It was then he saw her face. She was beautiful, peaceful. She looked like an angel, really looked like an angel. Jimmy shock his head, too many late nights, he could swear her skin was glowing a subtle gold. He covered her face and began to wheel the trolley out of the theatre. If he noticed to open biohazard box on the side he ignored it, cleaning up the equipment was someone else's job.

_**A:N/ Hey! Easy on the hate mail people, give a girl a chance to finish a story before you slate her quite so desperately. I have included what are known as plot twists because if it was just a happily ever after with no angst thrown in it wouldn't be worth the effort. Rant over. Thank you to all those who have reviewed positively, you are wonderful and to those who are still willing to give me a chance, you're wonderful too. Much love. Nova x**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N: How much was I crying on Saturday night! Arghhhhhh I hate Russell T Davies! So, so, so close to an "I love you". It was so beautiful though. I'm going to miss Rose so much but at least there is a faint glimmer that she'll be able to come back into it. Three Cheers for Billie Piper- the best companion ever.**_

_**Right on with the story. Still don't own anything though. If I did he'd have said "I love you" thirteen episodes ago!**_

The mortuary was a quiet solitary place, a place that could be called spooky if you were superstitious but Grace wasn't. To her everything could be explained by science and so the mortuary for her was a place of quiet reflection as she worked. It was rare though for her to work on bodies after death, as the head of the Cardiothoracic department she often delegated the work to her students or newer members of staff. Today however she felt the need to complete the autopsy on Rose and prepare her for burial.

The clock struck nine in the evening as she punched in her key code for the door and entered the silent room. The trolley with Rose on sat silently in the middle of the room, the body still covered by the green surgical cloth. Grace snapped on some gloves and made her way over to the table, wheeling the equipment trolley behind her. She settled herself on a high stool and pulled back the cover, nearly sobbing as she looked down at the now colourless face of Rose Tyler. Rolling the cover reverently back she exposed her open chest and lay the cloth to rest at her hips, noticing with some surprise the black tattoo on Rose's hip bone. It was just one simple word, _Doctor_, in elegant script, wrapped in light green vines with rosebuds on the ends. Grace wondered whether the Doctor knew of this profession of love and quickly grabbed a pen to note down to mention it to him when she next saw him.

Turning back to the task in hand, Grace picked up a small scalpel and set her tape recorder rolling.

"This is Doctor Grace Holloway, head of Cardiothoracics at San Francisco General. July 5th 2006 at twenty-one ten hours. Completing the autopsy on Rose Marion Tyler, 20 year old female, came to me presenting with shortness of breath, hallucinations and irregular heart rhythm. After my initial consult I diagnosed unknown damage to a…"

Grace trailed off as a soft thud sounded in the room, a sound that was so familiar to her and yet so out of place in the mortuary. She looked down at Rose's open chest and couldn't help but scream.

XXXX

Jackie tucked the Doctor's coat tighter around him as he lay sleeping on Grace's couch having collapsed from exhaustion only half an hour after arriving at her house. She brushed back his fly away hair, feeling odd to be comforting a nine hundred year old alien who she couldn't help but blame in a way for her daughter's death but needing to all the same. She could see the pain etched on his delicate features, the tear tracks still marking his face. She got to her feet and paced the small living room, unable to do anything of use but not wanting to sleep either. Sleep meant dreaming of Rose and Pete, the two people she'd loved and lost. She took a strangled breath as Mickey rose to her mind also and, to her surprise, the Doctor's previous incarnation. She looked down mournfully at the sleeping alien, pitying him as she thought of what must flash to his mind so often. Rose had told her many times about the destruction of his home planet. Jackie struggled to remember the name, she would have to ask him when he woke.

Realising that know amount of staring would wake the Doctor as he turned and muttered sweetly in his sleep, Jackie set off in search of paper and pens, smiling to herself as she heard her daughter's name on his lips. Once she'd located a pad of lined paper and a pen she settled herself at Grace's dining room table and began to make a list of people she needed to tell about Rose, what kind of flowers to have at the funeral, what songs to play. The lists kept coming and coming, hour after hour, as did the fresh, hot tears on her face. The ritual bringing her little comfort but she found herself to do anything else. The lists became more erratic, what Rose had eaten the last times she had visited, how many blue tops she owned. She wasn't aware of any movement until she felt two strong arms around her shoulders and the soft brush of fly away hair against her cheek. One slim, ivory hand reached out, moving the lists and examining each one. He stopped on one listing songs for the funeral.

"Aerosmith," said the Doctor, gently, moving to sit beside her, "Don't want to miss a thing. Rose loved that one, you should play that for her. I remember her playing it on the radio in the TARDIS. She made me dance with her to it. She sang it when we were dancing, she had such a pretty voice."

"I'll put it on the list," said Jackie, returning to her frantic scribbling. The Doctor took the pen from her hands before folding his own over them.

"Jackie stop, this won't help."

"What else am I supposed to do?"

"Talk to me," said the Doctor, "If anyone her can feel half of your pain its me."

"Do you know what it feels like to lose a child?"

The Doctor nodded solemnly, "Five actually, not too long ago. Their mother a long, long time ago, far too young."

"Five?" said Jackie, her voice barely rising above a whisper, "The war?"

The Doctor nodded, "Eight grand children too and someone I thought of as an adopted daughter."

"You don't look old enough to be a grandfather," said Jackie, "Hope I look as good as you do when I'm a…"

The Doctor pulled Jackie into a hug as she realised her words couldn't possibly come true now, hushing her gently. He rocked her, murmuring words that she was sure weren't English into her hair. The shrill ringing of Grace's phone startled them both. They both made no move to it but were soon on there feet as they heard Grace's voice echo after the recorded message.

"Doctor? Jackie? Are you there? Its Grace. You need to get to the hospital now. Something's happening. I can't explain it. Its Rose…her heart… oh God its impossible. Doctor her heart is beating!"

The line had barely dropped dead as the front door slammed closed.

XXXX

The route to San Francisco General was ingrained in the Doctor's memory from the taxi ride earlier, he had kept his mind from Rose by memorizing every twist and turn and so now it took him no time to speed his way through the traffic on a 'borrowed' motor bike. He mused with some humour that his last time in San Francisco had resulted in him and Grace stealing a police bike, he'd soon be getting a record. Jackie clung tightly to his waist, her language making even the Doctor blush as she berated him for his terrible driving and their lack of helmets. The wind in his hair drowned out part of the noise and his focus on their destination the rest. He'd heard it himself, Grace's terrified words, Rose's heart was beating. She hadn't said that Rose was alive, only that her heart was beating but still he allowed himself to hope. Uttering a silent prayer to Gods he had long thought to forget he kicked the bike up another gear and sped through the streets.

XXXX

Grace paced frantically back and forth beside the autopsy table, wringing her hands as she tried to rationalise the scene before her. Rose's chest was still open to the elements, without any machinery attached to her but her heart was beating. A soft, steady rhythm beat out in the silent atmosphere and a gentle hum plagued Grace's ears like the pressure building before a storm. She turned as she heard the crack of bone, a sound she was so used to hearing turning her stomach over in a second. She turned back to Rose's body and saw the chest slowly pulling together, golden threads pulling at the edges with a strength way beyond its size. She had seen the glow before from the piece of Vortex the Doctor had removed but she knew she had seen it elsewhere also, like a memory from a dream, the delicate play of gold over her own body. As the chest closed Grace could see more movement than just the heart. Rose's lungs began to gently twitch and the sound that soon echoed in the room barely startled her. The desperate gasp of a newly drawn breath.

XXXX

The Doctor waved the psychic paper wildly in the security guard's face before pushing passed him and entering the lift before any further questions could be asked. Jackie's hand protested in his but he held her fast. He punched the button for the basement and danced from foot to foot and the numbers descended.

"Come one! Come on! COME ON!" he cried loosing Jackie's hand and hammering the wall, "Can't this thing go any faster."

"Hitting it isn't going to help," said Jackie as the Doctor shook his hand furiously, "Did that hurt?"

"Yes," said the Doctor sheepishly.

"Let me see," said Jackie taking his hand in hers, "What do you think is happening?"

"I don't…oww, Jackie!"

"Don't be such a baby!"

"It hurts," whined the Doctor, "Leave it. We've got more important things to worry about."

Jackie grabbed hold of the hand rail as the lift juddered and came to a halt, the emergency light flashing from the control panel. The lights blacked out and she groped wildly for the Doctor, half smiling at the yelp of pain as she grabbed his hand.

"I think you've broken it."

"I think," said the Doctor, the blue light of the sonic screwdriver the only light as he ran it over the control panel, "This is more than your average power cut."

XXXX

Grace jumped as the lights flickered and went out. She muttered comforting words to herself as she waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. The hum was louder now but the glow was no where to be seen. She thought to search for Rose's body with her hands but found herself frozen to the spot with fear. She only hoped that the Doctor had got her message and was on his way. Rose's breathing rang out like music in the darkness but it brought Grace little comfort. She felt her mind slip every time she tried to rationalise the happenings before her. The child before her had been dead for nearly nine hours yet her she was, breathing, her heart beating. A bed in psyche seemed on the cards. An idea supported when a voice rang out in the darkness. A small, female voice with a London accent.

"Doctor."


	12. Chapter 12

_**A/N: As I got so many lovely reviews I thought I'd try and get this out as quickly as possible. Sorry that it is taking time between postings but I've only got 7 weeks until my wedding and its all going a bit mad. Anyway on with the story…**_

Jackie yelped in surprise as the Doctor slammed his head back against the lift wall, his breathing ragged. She could barely make out his form in the darkness but his eyes shone out in absolute fear and confusion.

"I can feel her," he said through gritted teeth, "I can feel her thoughts inside me."

"Who?" said Jackie moving to him and laying a hand on his sweaty brow. His hair was already beginning to slick down and she could feel every muscle in his body tense.

"She's so frightened. She's not strong enough. She needs me," said the Doctor struggling to his feet and using the sonic screwdriver to open the access hatch above his head. He pulled himself up through the hatch and bent his head back through before extending his good hand to Jackie.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting to Rose," said the Doctor, "Are you coming? We can climb to the next level, get out and take the stairs."

"I am not climbing in a lift shaft," said Jackie, "I'm not that stupid."

"Jackie I'll have to leave you here alone, I have to get to Rose," said the Doctor offering his hand once again, "Please?"

Jackie's hand closed around his and he pulled her up, yelping in pain as he used his injured hand to steady her. They both made for the access ladder at the side of the shaft and began the precarious ascent. The Doctor moving with more speed than he thought possible as he felt Rose scream in his mind.

XXXX

Grace covered her ears with her hands, cowering in the corner as Rose's cries rang out in the mortuary. The power still hadn't come on but Grace's eyes had adjusted to allow her some vision of the body currently writhing on the table, crying out for the Doctor. She tentatively pulled her hands away from her ears as she heard silence reign once more in the room. She looked back up to see that Rose was now sitting upright, her chest fully closed and healed but still showing a deep red line where Grace had cut her open. Her blond hair spilled down her naked back, her skin glowing in the dim light. Grace got to her feet and made over to the table, picking up a scalpel for some form of protection.

"Rose?" she whispered, "Can you hear me?"

"She cannot," came the reply from Rose's lips, "But I can."

"Who are you?" said Grace backing away from the table slightly.

"The fear of children, the saviour of Earth, the Champion of the Time War," said the voice.

"Are you alien? Is that what you are? Some alien whose taken over Rose's body. You'll be sorry if you are, the Doctor…"

"The Doctor knows me. He has seen me," said Rose, her eyes opening to reveal shimmering gold, "He will welcome me."

"But who are you?"

"To Rose I am salvation. To the Doctor I am the Bright Angel but to most I am the Bad Wolf."

XXXX

The Doctor forced open the lift doors and pulled himself up, managing to flash a cheeky grin at several startled nurses who had huddled together in the darkness. The look only caused them to squeak even further before cuddling closer to each other.

"Evening ladies," he said before turning and helping Jackie up through the door, thanking whatever gods existed in this twisted universe that Rose was much lighter. He decided if Jackie was travelling with them he'd be in traction by the end of the week.

"You know you'd look really good in jeans," she said, still grinning after following behind the Doctor in the long climb. The comment took the Doctor aback but he smiled as he remembered Rose's face when they went dancing.

"So I've been told," said the Doctor, grabbing her hand and running towards the stairwell. It was in utter darkness and he felt Jackie hesitate, "We need to go down four floors. Don't let go of my hand."

"Don't worry I won't," said Jackie, surveying the black stairway, "Can you see anything?"

"Perfectly. Lots of carrots," muttered the Doctor as they began their descent.

"What?"

The Doctor didn't speak as they flew down the stairs, sometimes taking two at a time. Jackie felt herself stumble but somehow the Doctor always managed to keep her on her feet. It was exhilarating and for once Jackie knew what her daughter had seen in him. They were both more than a little breathless when they reached the door to the mortuary. The Doctor began to push it open but stopped when he heard Rose's voice. His hearts began to beat all the faster. She was alive. He strained to hear her words, answering the questions posed to her from Grace. His blood began to run cold.

"What are you doing to her?" asked Grace.

"Helping her. Rose and I joined as one when she looked into the TARDIS. I will protect her until the end of time."

"Why did Rose look into the TARDIS?" said Grace, "Why would she need to? Are you something to do with the Eye of Harmony? Is that what you are? Is the eye open?"

"The Eye has not opened since Gallifrey's demise. Rose took the Vortex into herself to save the Doctor but the power was too strong, he knew it would kill her so he took it from her, killed himself but I clung on, deep in her heart. Silently I wait until the time will come again when she needs me."

The Doctor watched as Grace circled the bed, casting her gaze over Rose who seemed unashamed by her nakedness, her eyes glowing gold in the darkness, "Bright angel," he murmured.

"But the Vortex is what killed her. The Doctor took it from her heart," said Grace.

"I became detached from my place of safety, I could not stop the damage I did. Rose was possessed by a renegade human, Cassandra was her name. Everything of Rose was suppressed and the disturbance caused me to loose my hold. I tried to reach the surface, to warn the Doctor but Rose fought me, suppressed me," Rose let out a pitiful cry, before continuing, "I can feel him close and yet he will not come to me."

Her eyes turned to the doorway and focused on Jackie and the Doctor. Her hand extended in a gesture to approach and they did so warily. The Doctor stared into Rose's golden eyes, seeing cold recognition and nothing more shining back at him, even so he slipped his hand into her cold, pale fingers. It only took a second for everything to go black.


	13. Chapter 13

_**A/N: Oooh I'm all inspired today. Had some good ideas for another fan fic I might start after this one so my diary is now covered in scribbles to remind me of things to write. Think I only have a couple more chapters left on this one now so I'd better get on with it.**_

_There was dancing. Him and Her, Yin and Yang, Sun and Moon, Faith and Hope. Dancing on a cloud of gold dust high above the world but it hurt, burned so terribly. Her eyes were alight with a flame he'd seen with old eyes, burning into his soul, begging for his aid. He gave it willingly, the strength of his many generations flowing through knotted fingers, joining them in a way they could never achieve in physical form. Then the pain really started. The crushing pressure of the Vortex as it flowed between them, the howl of the Bad Wolf in their ears and all they could do was cling to each other as the dance continued, a dance so forbidden that none had survived and yet they were not dying. The Earth held them fast to her, unwilling to let them fly into space and time as they so often did. She pulled them back, filled them with her electricity. The Earth and the Vortex, like so many gods of yore, in perfect harmony and desperate battle with every breath and now the Earth held on, the Bad Wolf pulled, the Vortex consumed and they were spinning, spinning so fast that soon the Sun and the Moon and the Heavens all blurred until all could be seen were their eyes, fixed, locked, loving eyes that swore never to let go whatever the pain. And then the Earth gave her final charge for she loved her child as she loved the wandering child of another world, her two lonely angels who would defend her always. Below in the world so distant from the battle the darkness reigned as every light, sound and element of warmth charged to the battle, saving their angels. And the music began to die, the dance began to end. They were falling, through the dimensions, through time and space and life and love, clinging to each other like waves cling to the shore, never able to let go. The silence returned and the angels lay sleeping. Never once letting go._

_XXXX_

The Doctor knew what the Wicked Witch of the East must have felt like because he could have sworn someone had dropped a house on him. His whole body ached and when he tried to move his muscles protested violently. He felt the soft brush of fingers in his hair and heard the sound of a gentle lullaby. His brow furrowed in confusion as to who would be singing to him as he slept. He tried to open an eye but sparks flew at him in protest so he kept them closed. Trying to concentrate on the singing to identify the voice. There was a definite South London twang.

"Rose?" he murmured, his mind swimming with both wonderful and dreadful thoughts at her name. Something had happened to her. He could remember the grief, the desperation, then nothing but gold, perfect, beautiful gold, "Rose?"

"She's sleeping," said the singer, still brushing his hair back from his eyes, "Stay still Doctor, you're alright. Rose is alright."

"Who is that?" said the Doctor, finding his voice hoarse and dry. He coughed and felt the pain rise in his chest. He struggled to pull his eyes open, squinting in the bright light. Jackie's face slowly swam into focus above him, fatigue and concern etched on her features.

"Its okay," she said softly, "Take your time." She helped him to sit up slightly higher on the pillows and held a cup of water to his lips. He drank gratefully, feeling the thump in his head subside slowly to a dull ache. He felt a sharp pain in the back of one hand as he moved and looked down to see the drip attached there. The other hand ached terribly and he looked down to see a splint bandaged to him. He gazed around the room, pristine and white but most of his sight was blocked by Jackie as she perched beside him on the bed.

"You're in San Francisco General," said Jackie, taking in his bemused expression, "You've been asleep for nearly four days. Doctor Holloway put the drip in you because she was worried about you weakening but you don't have to worry, nothing seems to have gone wrong and no one knows you're here except us."

"Why've I been sleeping? What happened to me?" said the Doctor searching his memory and drawing a blank, "I can't remember anything since…Rose!"

Jackie gripped his bandaged hand lightly, she had been right about him breaking it in the lift. She smiled softly, her bright face confusing the Doctor in his grief, "She's not dead," she said as she heard him sob, "Look."

She moved to one side to let the Doctor glance to the left of his bed to one that sat beside the window. Rose lay, still unconscious but breathing alone, her hair glowing in the morning sunlight. The Doctor thought she had never looked more like an angel. He shook his head as memories slowly started to resurface.

"Bad Wolf," he muttered, "Jackie? What happened?"

Jackie smiled at him and shrugged, "I'm hardly the best one to explain. Grace said something about the Bad Wolf needing to heal Rose before you came along then when you held Rose's hand in the mortuary their was this almighty flash of light that came around the pair of you. You were crying out but we couldn't get to you, we thought you were going to die but then as soon as it started the light went out again and both you and Rose were unconscious on the floor, you were still holding hands. As I said, I'm hardly the best to explain."

The Doctor shook his head, "Perhaps when my brain starts to co-operate with me a bit more I'll be able to figure it out…but Rose is alright isn't she?"

"Grace says that everything seems fine. It was touch and go for a while though whatever happened to you and Rose knocked out the power in most of San Francisco for two whole days but once she got the heart monitors working again everything has showed promise. Her heart is beating normally again and Grace assures me that your two are too."

The Doctor struggled to sit up further and pulled back the white sheets, blushing as he realised that he was only in a hospital gown, "Attractive," he muttered before sliding to his feet. He felt a weight around his shoulders and was grateful to see Jackie helping him into his own black dressing gown. He smiled at the thought of Jackie finding her way through the TARDIS to fetch him something so domestic.

"Thanks," he said softly as he took several tentative steps towards Rose's beside, grateful for the hand of support around his waist but pretending to ignore it while gripping onto the stand holding his drip for dear life. Never feeling more exhausted in his life he slumped down in the chair next to Rose and took her hand in his own, interlacing their fingers. He raised her pale hand to his lips and kissed the back of it before resting his cheek against the silky skin.

"I'll be outside if you need me," said Jackie, knowing that the Doctor wouldn't want her to see him in any weaker state than he already was. She was out the door before he could even answer. He felt the tears prick the back of his eyes, one breaking loose a coursing down his cheek. He reached up to brush it away, realising with dismay how desperately he needed to shave.

His bandaged hand reached for Rose's hair, running it carefully through his fingers as if rememorizing every strand. His hand continued its path, caressing her cheek before brushing her lips and then on to the smooth skin of her neck. His fingers paused, trembling as he saw the gauze lightly covering her chest. He bit his lip before gently pulling it back, not having to go far to reveal the angry red scar left where Grace had cracked her chest. For a second he felt a lump form in his throat at the scarring but his rational mind took over quickly, grateful for her life and reminding him that he had several gadgets in the TARDIS med bay that would make short work of healing such a wound.

"My bright angel," he murmured, letting his head fall onto the bed beside her, both hands now gripping hers, "I'll never let you go again."

Sleep when it came was peaceful and the Doctor's dreams for once failed to turn to nightmares.

XXXX

Several days passed in San Francisco General. Grace kept prying eyes away from her patients and the Doctors identity was not discovered. Another night in the hospital had seen the Doctor back to strength enough to get himself around but he barely left the room. His only excursion was back to the TARDIS to shave and change his clothes, opting for a pair of blue denim jeans and his previous incarnation's burgundy jumper rather than his traditional suit. The rest of his time was spent by Rose's bedside, reading to her or telling her tales of his adventures. With permission from Grace he had brought several pieces of equipment from the TARDIS' med bay to heal Rose's scar. His work was almost completed. The scar was still a thin pink line on her ivory chest but one more treatment would fade it completely.

The Doctor had tried to fathom the events that led them to their current states but he soon held his hands up in defeat, professing that in some cases, be they very few and far between, even he was at a loss to the answers for everything. Jackie in a way was relieved. Knowing her daughter was safe was all that mattered, any science or explanation would mar the miracle of her recovery.

Jackie maintained the vigil with the Doctor, laughing at his funny adventures, crying at his sad ones, all the time wondering over the love than shone in his eyes for her daughter. The Doctor who swore never to become domestic was doing it ten fold. The subtle lift in heart rhythm and breathing in Rose signalled to them that she was not far from waking and they waited with baited breath for her eyes to open and for her to tell them that all was well.

_**A/N: Ok, one maybe two chapters left of this I guess. Please keep reviewing as it really makes my day. **_

_**Nova x**_


	14. Chapter 14

**_A:N/ Thank you again for all the wonderful reviews. Hopefully I'll give you all the ending you want in the next couple of chapters._**

_**Still don't own anything!**_

The Doctor had worried that Rose wouldn't be herself when she woke, changed by the effects of the Bad Wolf. He realised though, as he was pulled into her crushing embrace, her lips bruising his in a desperate kiss, that he needn't had bothered. He was glad that he had healed the scar on her chest otherwise her current outburst would have left her in agony but as her tongue pushed its way into his mouth, rediscovering the taste of him, he lost all rational thought and just enjoyed kissing her back with the same fervour she showed him.

He had wanted to be their when she had awoken but an untimely trip to the cafeteria to relieve the whinging of an over tired and hungry Jackie had meant they had returned to see Rose sitting up in bed, talking with Grace, smiling like nothing had ever gone wrong. Grace had got up to depart as soon as the pair had entered, making room for Jackie to run to her daughter. She had caught the Doctor's arm on the way out of the door, standing on tiptoes to whisper in his ear.

"She remembers nothing," she said softly.

The Doctor nodded before turning to Rose with a bright smile, clearing the length of the room in two strides and barely making it to sitting on the bed before she pulled him into her arms.

He felt the tears running down his cheeks as he pulled back from her and hastily brushed them away with the back of his hand. He hadn't fooled Rose though and her eyes narrowed in concern.

"What is it?" she said, her hand cupping his cheek and the Doctor didn't resist turning his face into it, revelling in the warmth of her palm and the jump of her pulse in her wrist.

"Nothing," he said, "Nothing whatsoever. I'm just so damn happy to have you awake again. God Rose Tyler of all the people in the universe you don't half know how to put me through it and do you know what, I love you all the more for it. Oh my Rose!"

He pulled her back into his arms, allowing himself a contented laugh as she snuggled into his neck, her hot breath tickling him. He heard Jackie's faint footfalls as she made to leave but he pulled an arm away from Rose to grab her wrist and stop her.

"You're not going anywhere," he said, scooting back from Rose to give Jackie room to sit between them, joining all three of them in an open embrace, "I need all my family with me right now."

Rose couldn't help but giggle at her mother's half sob, half laugh as she pulled the Doctor into a crushing hug, only pulling back when he yelped in pain.

"Hey! Watch the hand!"

Rose finally noticed his bandaged hand and her expression once again became one of concern, "What happened? Did you hurt yourself when I fell? That Doctor Holloway said the TARDIS crashed and I knock myself out."

"No, it was an altercation with a lift," said the Doctor, "Broke three bones so you're going to have to be gentle with me for a while."

"Gentle with you!" cried Jackie, not having Rose's previous words through her own tirade of telling the Doctor not to be such a baby about his hand, "She's just had open heart surgery!"

The Doctor hissed and Jackie gave him a confused look before her eyes widened in guilty shock.

"Oh God she didn't know did she?"

"Know what? What are you talking about? Open heart surgery!" said Rose, "Doctor? Doctor what happened to me."

"Hush, you're alright now," he said softly, clutching her trembling hands, "Jackie, shift over."

The Doctor nudged Jackie off the bed and onto a nearby chair. Swinging his legs up, he sat beside Rose and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, resting his head against hers as he gently massaged her fingers with his good hand.

"Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin."

XXXX

The Doctor's sketchy story of what happened had left Rose utterly bewildered and upset but after several hours of him promising her that she would recover completely, she finally quieted. Content in her Doctor's arms she snuggled closer to him, half laughing at the pained expression on his face as he dutifully sat beside her, attempting to watch some ridiculous drama currently playing on the hospital television set. Jackie had long since vanished in search of food for them that didn't come from the hospital cafeteria and, although glad her mother was nearby, Rose had to admit to herself that it just being her alone with the Doctor was the most perfect place to be.

"We don't have to watch this you know," she said softly, lifting the remote.

"Whatever you want honey," said the Doctor, only half concentrating on the conversation.

"Did you just call me honey?"

The Doctor turned his head and raised an eyebrow, a soft pout on his lips, "Don't you like it? I thought it was expected that boyfriends give their girlfriends pet names. I could choose another I suppose…sweetie, darling, baby, princess…"

"You just said you were my boyfriend!" said Rose with a giggle, "Isn't that a bit domestic for you?"

The Doctor gave her a cheeky half smile, "I guess I did but if its too domestic for you I guess I could go back to just being plain old Doctor. What do you want to call me?"

Rose snuggled a little deeper into his arms, grazing his cheek with a light kiss, "In my head I always called you My Time Lord," she admitted a little sheepishly.

She felt the Doctor's laughter rumble in his chest and smiled to herself as his fingers came up to play with her hair.

"I guess it kind of has a ring to it, although…"

"Although what?"

"Well if we're thinking of how we're going to introduce ourselves in the future, I mean 'The Doctor plus One' is so last season, I was thinking you could take over and…"

"Doctor, you're rambling," said Rose playing with the hem of his jumper.

"Yes, sorry…well…" said the Doctor, nerves seeming to rise in his voice, "I was thinking if you did the intros from now on you could refer to me as The Doctor, My Time Lord or you could, if you wanted to that is, refer to me as The Doctor, my fiancé."

Rose sat bolt upright in the bed, staring down at him like he'd just grown an extra head and announced that his name was Marilyn. The Doctor's face paled dramatically and a muscle began twitching in his cheek as his mouth refused to co-operate with his brain. Rose's breathing had jumped up a gear but with each breath her expression began to change to a brilliant smile.

"Is this your way of asking me to marry you?" she said, her heart flying to her throat and forcing her to choke out her words. Her fingers intertwined with his good hand, pulling it to her heart.

"I guess so," said the Doctor, his grin mirroring hers, "Is this you saying yes?"

"I guess so," said Rose softly, "Yes, yes, oh God yes!"

Neither the Doctor or Rose were aware of the two people in the doorway as he pulled her into a kiss. Neither of them saw the Grace mouth a congratulations at a grinning Jackie and neither of them heard the door close as they both walked away.

_**A/N:A bit fluffy I know but I needed to write some fluff to help me get over the state of depression I've entered into since Saturday's episode! Just to be warned the next chapter may go up to an M so any of you younger readers please think carefully before approaching.**_

_**As always please review.**_

_**Nova x**_


	15. Chapter 15

_**A/N: This is definitely going up to an M. You have been warned! Rated for a reason. But if you're okay with that then please keep reading. Final Chapter and I still don't own a thing.**_

The goodbyes had been tearful. Rose had had to remain in the hospital for another two weeks after she'd fallen ill, Grace had wanted to ensure that she was healthy enough to go back to a life with the Doctor. In the time they had Rose and Grace had grown very close, enjoying sharing memories of the Doctor as well as discussing the up and coming wedding that the Doctor had promised to return to Earth for. He said Vegas was always a good place for alien weddings and even Jackie had agreed to the idea after some gentle persuasion. The date was set for a year in Grace's future, enough time to allow the Doctor to make the inevitable miscalculations before they reached the correct time. Despite the delay in the event the Doctor's claim on Rose was evident in the Gallifreyan diamond that now glittered on her finger. The Doctor had presented it to her two days after his proposal after spending ten hours searching the TARDIS for it. Rose had accepted it with tears as he told her that its former owner had been his grandmother, grateful for such a precious gift. Her plan of showing him her gratitude was put on hold though as Grace insisted on no physical activity for at least three weeks.

Four weeks had passed. They had said goodbye to Grace in San Francisco a week before and now the Doctor and Rose were bidding a tearful goodbye to Jackie in London. The wind bit through Rose's jacket as they stood in the early morning sunlight but she hid her shivers from her already crying mother. She bit her lip to stop herself laughing as Jackie pulled a very reluctant Doctor into a hug. His hand had healed completely but he still let out a yelp, feigning agony to get Jackie to let him go. Jackie only laughed at him.

"You sure you want to marry a wimp like that Rose?" she asked, turning to her daughter.

"I suppose I do. Its only you he's scared of. That's a pretty big feat Mum, you should be proud of yourself," said Rose.

Jackie pulled her into a hug, "I'm proud of you my darling," she said, "Now promise me you'll be careful, don't do anything too mad for a few weeks at least."

"She'll be fine Jackie," said the Doctor, "I won't let anything happen to her."

"You'd better not!" said Jackie, her voice for once only half threatening, "God I'm going to miss you two."

"We'll be back soon," said Rose, pinching the Doctor's arm as he snorted at her comment. He yelped in pain and mock stalked into the TARDIS, muttering about husband beating and how you'd never have seen that on Gallifrey.

"I'd better go," said Rose, "He's getting restless."

"You will take care won't you sweetheart?"

"Of course I will. Love you Mum."

"Love you Rose," said Jackie to the closing TARDIS door. The grating rasp of the engines started up and the wind billowed around Jackie's hair. She watched the blue box dematerialise and then cast her eyes heavenward, blowing a kiss to thin air and knowing it would find its destination.

XXXX

The TARDIS hummed quietly as she rested in the Time Vortex. The Doctor had chosen not to race off to some distant planet or adventure. Rose needed time to readjust to life with the time machine and he was not adverse to spending quality time with her. The only problem was, he couldn't find her. After some gentle persuasion and some language he even thought a little two fair the TARDIS finally revealed Rose's position in the ship and the Doctor made his way to her. He knocked on her bedroom door and then pushed it open when their was no response. Her bed was empty and he almost though the TARDIS had made a mistake until he heard the faint sobs coming from Rose's en suite.

The door was slightly ajar and he peered round it, concerned by the sound of his sobs. His words were stopped as he saw her standing naked in front of the mirror, her wet hair suggesting that she was not long after her shower. Raking his eyes up her body he almost forgot her tears until he saw her body convulse with them once more. She was staring at her reflection, running her fingers along the faint scar on her chest, leading from the base of her breast bone to the top of her chest. Despite the Doctor's equipment and treatment the faintest white scar had remained. He had thought it barely visible but he suddenly realised that to someone as young as Rose it could almost be as bad as losing a limb. The Doctor rolled his shoulders and shook his head at the thought, knowing it was time to change her mind.

"Rose?" he said entering the room.

She shrieked in surprise before quickly grabbing a towel and wrapping it around her, pulling it as high up her chest as possible, "Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" Her face was serious but there was no venom in her words.

"Sorry," said the Doctor, crossing the room to her, "I was worried. I heard you crying. Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

Rose looked as though she was about to give him some feeble excuse but when her eyes connected with his she knew she had no choice to tell him the truth.

"Its this scar," she whispered, "Its hideous. I wanted to…I…you…how can you even bear to look at me?"

She turned her eyes away from him towards the floor, failing to see the sympathetic smile on his features.

"What scar?"

"Don't be cute," said Rose, "You know what scar."

She felt fingers brush her chest as he released the towel that was around her and pushed it to the floor, leaving her bare before him. Her hand shot up in an attempt to cover her chest but he pulled it away again.

"You mean this little scar," he said tracing his fingers over the faint line on her chest, making Rose shiver with both delight at him and disgust at herself, "Or this little mark here."

His fingers traced down her chest to brush the tattoo of his name on her hip, "This one is quite old, before my regeneration, I like that one, means a lot," he said before tracing his fingers back up to the line on her chest, "This one is newer, because of my regeneration, I love this one, means you're alive. Makes you all the more beautiful."

Rose still didn't raise her eyes but his words made her heart thump all the harder in her chest. The Doctor glorified at the jump of it as he pressed a kiss to the top of the scar, grinning as he heard Rose moan. Without a second thought he began to kiss his way down the scar's path, dropping to his knees before her and not caring as the wet bathroom floor soaked into his trousers, he'd be out of them soon anyway. His kisses continued their straight path until they reached the base of the scar before veering off to brush against the tattoo on her hip.

"Perfect," he murmured, the vibration of his lips against her skin making Rose shudder, "Bright Angel."

Rose's fingers knotted into his hair as his lips reached their final destination, her other hand gripping on to the sink to stop herself falling. His hands came up to the small of her back to steady her as he revelled in the moans of pleasure escaping her lips. His whole being was concentrated solely on her as he remapped territory he'd only had a brief chance to explore before, memorizing the touches that made her moan, the way she tasted against his eager tongue. He teased her mercilessly until he knew her sanity would not withstand anymore. As she reached completion she cried his name and the Doctor knew he had never heard anything more beautiful. He gave her a moment to steady herself before kissing his way back up to standing, his lips creeping up her neck before capturing her quivering lips.

"See," he said as he pulled back to breathe, "Beautiful. I love you Rose Tyler."

"I love you," was the breathy response against his lips, "But at the moment you are wearing far too many clothes."

The Doctor felt her smile and her light fingers as they sought the buttons of his shirt, "I think that can be remedied," he said taking her hands and pulling her back into her bedroom.

XXXX

The Doctor shifted his arms to hold Rose closer to him, several hours had passed since he'd found her crying and he was now convinced that she believed him when he told her she was beautiful. He felt her hum contentedly as she buried her face deeper in his neck.

"Are you getting restless?" she asked, her hot breath teasing his skin.

"I'm quite happy here thank you," he said, tracing patterns on her shoulder, "Besides, we have a time machine, not missing much."

Rose heard the slight loss of conviction in his voice at his last words, five weeks of domesticity had played hard on her Doctor. She smiled against his shoulder.

"I don't mind if you want to go somewhere. Do something."

"I'll only go if you go," said the Doctor, smiling when he felt her nod, "What do you want to do?"

"Do you know what I'd really like? I'd like to pull on a pair of jeans and a T shirt covered in slogans and run the Hell away from some butt ugly aliens. Sorry, not very human is it?"

The Doctor laughed in a way he couldn't remember having ever done in his life, "Actually my darling, it sounds very, very human! Come on!"

XXXX

The Pterodactyls circled high over head as several other species of dinosaur wandered around in the tropical sun, ignoring the two tiny people standing watching them in the hazy light. The Doctor wasn't watching the sight before him but instead the girl beside him as her eyes shone gold in the failing sunlight, a comforting gold that told him of the infinite power she had learned to control.

"Remind me how long you intend to stay with me again?" he said taking her hand in his own.

"Forever," said Rose flashing him a perfect smile that matched the glitter of the wedding band on her finger and he knew, deep in his heart of hearts, that in this dimension at least, the Doctor and his Rose would be together until the end of time.

**_A/N:That's it. The end. Fin. Over! I want to cry! Thank you so much for all your reviews and I hope that you all liked the ending. Well, whose to say that their isn't another reality where they can be together, we all live in hope. Until the next time._**

_**Nova x**_


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